


A New Chapter

by 3_is_a_magic_number



Series: The Life and Times of Penelope Garcia and Luke Alvez [4]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Garvez - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27329869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3_is_a_magic_number/pseuds/3_is_a_magic_number
Summary: Penelope finds out she's pregnant again and she decides rather to accept Hotch's job offer.
Relationships: Garvez - Relationship, Luke Alvez/Penelope Garcia
Series: The Life and Times of Penelope Garcia and Luke Alvez [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825984
Kudos: 13





	A New Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> This story picks up right where the last left off. I hope you enjoy!

I tell Luke my suspicions and I run to the drugstore that night, while he reads to the boys. I take the test while he puts them down for bed. Luke finds me 15 minutes later staring, open mouthed, at a positive pregnancy test. I think Luke knows just from the look on my face, a wide smile spreads across his.

“Positive?” He asks, wrapping me in a hug.

“Yes.” I say, emotionless. “How?” I ask.

Luke pulls back and looks at my face. “Are you okay, Penelope? You don’t look happy.”

“I’m happy.” I say. “I just don’t know, I can’t believe, 3 under 3. What?” I ramble. Luke pulls me in again. “I was supposed to have that meeting with Aaron, next week.” I say into Luke’s shoulder.

“You should still go in and talk to him.” Luke says.

“It’s not fair to him for me to start a new job, just to go on maternity leave within the first year. Also, 3, Luke, we’ll need to find childcare for 3 of them. I don’t want to work just to pay for childcare.”

“If Aaron wants you as bad as it seems like he does, I don’t think he’ll care about you going on maternity leave. And as for childcare, we’ve got some time to figure it out, I’m thinking a Nanny is the way to go.”

“But, but….” I trail off.

“Look, Penelope, I want you to be happy and fulfilled. I know you love our boys to death. And you love being a mom, I also know that you want more. I know you’re excited about the job offer, plenty of people work and have families, we’ll just have to do some research on how to make it work.”

“You’re right.” I sniff. “Thank you. I’ll make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and keep my meeting with Aaron on Tuesday morning.”

Tuesday morning, we all walk out the door together. Luke will show the boys off at work while I meet with Aaron. 

“Hello, Mrs. Garcia-Alvez. Thank you for coming in to meet with me.” Aaron says, ushering me into his office.

“Thank you for having me, Mr. Hotchner.” I say shaking his hand.

“Hotch, please.” He corrects. “Have a seat.” He motions.

“Before we start this interview, I think I should tell you that I’m pregnant again. Probably a couple of months along, which means I’ll be going out on maternity leave in a few months. I just thought it was fair to give you all the facts.” I say.

“Interview?” Hotch questions. “Mrs. Garcia-Alvez you already have the job if you choose to accept. I merely asked you here to try to persuade you and to negotiate pay.”

“Oh.” I say, shocked. He waits for me to continue and when I don’t, he says.

“Congratulations on number 3, but that doesn’t affect my offer, it still stands. Here is what the bureau is prepared to offer if you accept.” Hotch slides a folder over to me.

I open the folder and look inside. I can only imagine how comical I look from the shock on my face. “Aaro….Mr. Hotchner, I think there’s been some sort of mistake, the bureau knows I don’t have any work experience and I just graduated, right?”

“Yes, Penelope.” Aaron says, cracking a rare smile. “They know what an asset you are and are willing to pay you generously for your level of expertise and skill.” I nod, speechless.

“I wouldn’t be able to start for about a month, Luke and I still need to work out childcare for the boys.”

“That’s fine.” Aaron says. “So, do you accept?”

“I need to talk it over with Luke, can I get back to you tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Aaron says, standing. I stand as well and we walk to the door. “I look forward to hearing from you.” Aaron says.

“Tomorrow.” I nod, walking out of his office. Luke and I lock eyes as soon as I walk through the door, I flash him a smile.

He walks over to me and gives me a hug and a kiss. “How did it go?” He asks in a low voice.

“Good.” I say, looking around. “Where are the boys?”

“Oh, I lost them pretty much right away. The team is passing them around in the conference room.” He points up the stairs, I smile. “That was fast.” Luke says. “You two weren’t in there long.”

“Yeah, that’s because it wasn’t an interview. He offered me the job for way more money than I could have imagined. I told him we’d talk, and I’d get back to him tomorrow.”

“Congratulations.” Luke says, pulling me in again. “We’ll talk about it tonight.”

“I’ll get the boys and head out, so that you can start working.” I say, kissing him and pulling away.

“I’ll walk you guys out.” Luke says, settling his hand on my hip as we walk to the conference room.

The boys and I go to our music class and hang out at the park with some of the others.

Keisha and I talk while the kids play like we usually do. We talk about where we’ve been the last couple of Tuesdays. She tells me that next Tuesday is the last time I’ll see her.

“Why?”

“Carmen and Raymond’s mom is sending them to preschool. I’ll have to find a new nanny position.”

“Really?” I ask, a smile spreading over my face.

“Why do you look so happy?” She asks me.

“Well, I just got a job offer this morning. Luke and I are trying to figure out childcare for these two and maybe number three.” I say, looking down at my stomach.

“Oh, my gosh, really, number three? Congratulations, Penelope.” Keisha says, leaning in and hugging me.

“Thank you. Would you maybe be interested in becoming our nanny? I’d have to talk to Luke, of course.”

“I would love to, yeah. I’ll give you my number.”

We part ways soon after. I take the boys home for lunch and naps. After naps, we head over to Quantico to pick Luke up from work and head to my appointment.

I’m sitting next to Luke as he holds both the boys while they munch on a cheese stick when Dr. Wade walks in. She greets us all and we talk for a while.

“Your test came back positive, you’re pregnant.”

I’m stunned speechless, because even though I suspected and I took the home test, I still can’t believe this is happening.

“How far along?” Luke asks.

“Based on the paperwork Penelope filled out, it looks like 7 weeks.” Luke looks over to me and the smile fades from his face. I do my best to force a smile onto mine. We finish our appointment and make another for 4 weeks out.

Luke and I are in bed, after the boys have gone down.

“So, how do you really feel about all this?” Luke asks.

“I’m just kind of overwhelmed. I’m totally happy, don’t get me wrong. I just need some time to get used to the idea.”

“Didn’t you want like five kids at one point?”

“I did, I still do. Maybe just a little farther spaced. It may sound selfish, but I’m not ready to lose my body again; to gain weight again. I don’t want to go months without being able to be with you again.”

“That doesn’t sound selfish, that sounds realistic and honest. You know that I loved your body through your whole pregnancy with the boys, I thought you were sexy, taking care of our babies.” Luke says, taking a break to kiss me deeply. “And as for our ability to be together, I seem to remember us coming up with some very enjoyable ways to make it work.” He says, diving back in to kissing me again. “Did they not work for you?” Luke asks.

“No, they worked every time. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but are you ready to get creative again?”

“I’m ready to get creative, I told you, I’m willing to try or do just about anything you want.” Luke says, kissing down my neck.

“You know we need to talk about that job offer before you get too distracted.” I smile, gently nudging his chest.

“What’s there to talk about? Take the job.” He says, attaching himself to my neck again.

“I don’t know, the little problem of what to do with our one year olds.” I chuckle.

“We'll talk about it tomorrow morning, the blood is quickly leaving my brain for another area right now.” I laugh as Luke pulls me on top of him.

The next morning, we’re sitting down for breakfast. “You’re really okay with me taking this job?” I ask.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Luke asks, grabbing the boys’ cups.

“I don’t know, are you okay with me working the same place you work? My hours would be pretty unpredictable, that would leave you with the kids a lot more.” I say to Luke as he sits down next to me.

“Penelope, I would spend all day, every day with you if I could. I don’t know if you've noticed, but I’m kind of clingy.” Luke laughs, I smile at him. “Having you at work with me is a plus, even though we’d work on different floors. I'm good with taking care of them, they are mine. We decided early on that we weren’t going to go by those old, BS gender roles.”

“But you left the Fugitive Task Force to be home with us, doesn’t it make me a little hypocritical to take a job that has erratic hours?”

“No.” Luke says. “I chose to walk away from being a manhunter because I wanted to be home with you and the kids, you never asked me to. I was also in a lot of danger in that job, you’ll be safely in Quantico in a computer lab. But my concern is, will you be able to handle the things you’ll see in the job?”

“That’s a concern of mine too. I’m hoping that knowing that I’m out there helping will make the icky, not so icky.” I say.

“I bet you’ll be okay, you are one tough Chica, and I’ll be here to talk to too.”

“Thank you.” I say, kissing Luke. “So, there’s a nanny that I talk to a lot at music class, she’s leaving the family that she’s been with. I think you should meet her, she’s really great.”

“I don’t know about a stranger. I was thinking maybe Grandma can come back down to take care of the kids.”

“You were the one that said we should probably get a nanny. Keisha’s not a complete stranger, we’ve seen each other once a week for the last 3 months and your Grandma is in her 70’s. You know our boys are a lot of work and we’re adding another, I don’t want it to be too much for her.”

“You know I don’t trust people, Penelope.”

“I know, Luke.” I say, hugging his arm. “I just think it’s too much to ask. What if you met Keisha and we invited her to play with the boys a few times?” Luke opens his mouth to protest, I raise my hand to stop him, I continue. “If you like her, we hire her for a probationary period of a few months. We have your Grandma come down for a few months as well and they take care of the boys together?”

“I guess that could work.” Luke grudgingly admits.

“You talk to your Grandma, I’ll talk to Keisha. I told Aaron that I probably needed about a month before I could start, so we have some time.” I say. “We can go slow.” I assure, rubbing his forearm.

Luke leaves for work and the boys and I start our day together. During naptime, I call Aaron and accept the job offer. I also text Keisha, I invite her over for dinner on Friday to meet Luke and talk about the position.

Friday night comes and Luke texts me to tell me he’s going to be a little late. Keisha shows up right on time, just as dinner goes in the oven. We play with the boys and talk. I let her know that Luke is in law enforcement and we talk about the terms that Luke and I agreed to, she took them well and seemed like she understood his caution. I’ve just gone to take the food out of the oven when I hear the front door close. I walk back into the living room and Keisha is introducing herself to Luke. Over dinner we get to know each other, Keisha tells us about her qualifications and experience and we tell her what we’re looking for. Luke is pretty quiet, which is kind of typical for him meeting new people.

Luke talks to Juanita and she’s more than happy to come spend more time with her greatgrandchildren. She’ll fly out in a couple weeks and stay for four months.

Things stay the same over the next week. I’m at home with the boys, we keep to our schedule pretty consistently, with our weekly music class and library story time. Luke is working, going to his VA support group and his therapy session, he also visits Phil a couple evenings a week. With all that going on, he still makes sure that he’s home every night in time to read the boys’ stories and put them to bed.

The following week, Keisha comes over to hang out with me and the boys a couple times. Tony loves her right away, he’s my more outgoing, high energy boy. Leo, my more sensitive, reserved boy is not quite sure about her. She’s really positive and has an amazing sense of humor.

Juanita flies in the following Monday, the boys and I go pick her up from the airport. She gushes about how big they’ve gotten and how much they talk now. She tells me how excited she is to spend time with the boys again and how much she’s missed them. Luke tries to skip his group to come home and see her, I say ‘nope’, she’s gonna be here for another 4 months, he needs to continue to take care of himself.

I tell her all about Keisha and how much I think she’ll like her. We all get together a couple times over the next week. It’s so helpful that both Keisha and Juanita are both people you’re instantly drawn to. They both make you feel welcome and comfortable right away, I’m hopeful that this may just work out. Juanita sings Keisha’s praises to Luke, that helps give him a little nudge in the right direction. We all meet up at the park on Saturday, so Luke can get to know, and maybe get to trust Keisha. She makes a couple of funny comments while we’re out and I can see Luke’s eyes light up with amusement even if he won’t laugh. She even catches Tony, our little thrill seeker from trying to jump off the edge of the play equipment and gives him a gentle admonishment before redirecting him.

“So, what do you think of Keisha?” I ask Luke while the twins are down for their nap.

“She’s okay.” Luke says, vaguely.

“Details, Luke. I need more.” I say, urging him to elaborate.

“Okay, she seems like she might be a good fit.”

“Is she growing on you?” I ask, with a smile.

“Yeah, she is. I was impressed when I saw that she had won Leo over. He’s just like me, he doesn’t trust easily. If she won him over then I guess she’s okay. It also makes me feel better to know that Grandma will be watching out for them too.” Luke says.

“Good, I’m glad you’re getting to be okay with this.” I say, giving him a kiss. “I’m going to leave the boys with them a couple of days next week, to get everyone used to it, before I start work the following week.” Luke hums in acknowledgement.” I need to go shopping for work clothes.”

“You should take one of those days to pamper yourself, go to the spa, get a haircut, get your nails done, all that girly stuff you love.” Luke says with a chuckle.

“I don’t know.” I say, biting my lip.

“Why not?”

“I already need to pretty much buy a new wardrobe for work, I don’t know that we have money for all that too.” I say.

“You got paid very well from working in Arizona, all that money is money that’s not factored into our budget, use it to do something nice for yourself. Besides, money is never too tight for you to have and do the things you want, okay?” I nod. “Hair, makeup and nails don’t mean anything to me, but you like it, so you should be able to do it.”

“Thanks Luke. Maybe I’ll see if JJ or Ivonne are free.”

“I want you to be able to have everything you want in life. I know you deserve so much more than what I can give you, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what? You’ve given me an adorable dog, two beautiful boys and another baby on the way. You are an adoring, supportive and caring husband, and father. Those things alone are more than I ever thought I’d have in life. We have a nice house, enough food and me and the boys never want for anything. Just because I don’t have all the extras doesn’t mean I don’t have everything I need and want.”

The next week, Ivonne goes shopping with me. I try to buy things that will accommodate my belly that will be growing over the next few months. We have a great day together. It looks like everyone is happy and doing well when I get home from my shopping trip. Luke wants to see me in everything I bought, after the boys go to bed. I think his favorite part of my impromptu fashion show is taking everything off of me.

Friday, late afternoon, JJ and I go to the spa. We get our hair done and get a mani/pedi, luxuriating in our kid free time. The first thing Luke does when he comes home is give me a long lingering kiss, telling me how beautiful I am. For a man who claims that all those girly things don’t mean anything to him, he can’t seem to keep his hands off of me all night. We have a few quick lustful rounds that night.

Monday morning, Luke and I go to our 11 week appointment, leaving the twins home with Juanita and Keisha. We have an uneventful appointment and Luke drops me off at home before heading into work.

Luke and I decide that we’ll commute together in his truck. I’ll leave my car, Millie, at home for Juanita and Keisha to transport the twins during the day. Juanita can stay with the boys if I need to work late.

Tuesday morning, Luke and I are ready to walk out the door. I give the boys extra love before leaving. We make the drive with my hand on Luke’s thigh, I’ve been pretty nervous all morning. I can’t believe I’m really doing this. He holds my hand when he can, along the way. We finally make it to Quantico, Luke goes through security and waits for me to get cleared. While we’re in the elevator, Luke pulls me into a hug.

“You’re going to do great.” Luke says as he holds me for a couple more minutes. He pulls back and gives me a kiss.

“Thank you.” I say, taking a deep breath as the elevator dings for the sixth floor. I go to take my bags from Luke, but he holds tight, putting a hand on the small of my back and guiding me off the elevator. Aaron is in the bullpen and walks over to greet us when we walk through the glass doors.

“Mrs. Garcia-Alvez, Luke good morning.” He greets. Luke nods in hello.

“Good morning, Mr. Hotchner. Garcia is fine.” I say.

“Okay, Garcia and call me Hotch.” I nod. “Well, let me show you to your office, if you’ll follow me. I’ll introduce you to everyone again once your settled in.”

“No need. I remember everyone from Arizona.”

“Okay, we’re hoping we don’t catch a case today, you’ll hopefully have time to ease in, learn your computer system and get to know everyone.” Hotch says. He punches some numbers into a pad and opens a door, motioning for us to go ahead. “Here’s your office. I’ll leave you to get settled, come to my office when you’re ready, take as much time as you need.” He says to me. “Good to see you Luke.” He says before leaving the office.

I look at the wall of monitors and get nervous again. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, Luke. Is this insane?”

“No, not at all.” Luke says, pulling me into another hug. Luke pulls back and puts my bags on the desk. “Have a good first day.” Luke says, giving me a kiss. “They’re going to love you.” He says, giving me another kiss, I nod. He gives me one more encouraging smile before leaving.

I turn on my computers and unpack my bag while waiting for them to boot up. I take out the photo of our boys and Roxie and a photo of Luke and I together, centering them just so on my desk.

I log in and get the system set up just the way I want it. A couple hours or so later, I leave my office in search of Hotch. I turn down a hall. But nothing looks familiar. A voice behind me says.

“Can I help you Babygirl?” I whip my head around and glare.

“Sorry, I meant no disrespect.” Derek says, putting his hand on his chest.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve been called worse.” I smile. “The name’s Garcia. You better be lucky Luke wasn’t here to hear that.” I say.

“Noted.” Derek says, looking a little embarrassed. “Do you need some directions? You look a little lost.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to find my way back to Hotch’s office, I think I made a wrong turn.” I say, looking down the hall the other way.

“You’re going in the right direction you just didn’t walk far enough.” Derek says. “I’ll walk with you. My name’s Derek.” He says putting out his hand as we start to walk again.

“Derek Morgan, I remember. I’m Penelope Garcia-Alvez, but I thought it would be best to shorten it to Garcia.” I say, shaking his hand. “But maybe it would be best to keep the name Alvez, so some people don’t forget.”

Derek looks sheepish. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m just naturally flirtatious, I don’t mean anything by it. I’ll try to rein it in.” He says.

“Yeah, I bet you usually get away with it, looking like that.” I say with a smile, motioning to his body.

“Like what you see?” He asks with a smile.

“I can admit that you’re beautiful, but my husband’s hotter.” I say with a wink, heading up the steps to Hotch’s office.

After meeting with Hotch for a bit, he calls everyone to the conference room. We have introductions again and the meeting very quickly devolves to a round of teasing. I gotta say, I like these people so far. Hotch calls an end to our gathering and tells everyone to get back to work, with a slight smile. Rossi offers to treat us all to lunch later.

I get back to my office and my phone buzzes. There’s a photo of the boys playing drums in music class. I sit and stare at the picture for a while, missing my boys. There’s a knock on my door and I get up to open it. It’s Luke.

“I came to see how you’re doing.” Luke says.

“Okay.” I say, with a shaky voice.

“I thought you might need a hug after you saw the picture of the boys.” He says, wrapping me in a hug and kicking the door shut behind him.

“Am I a bad mother? Am I doing the right thing, leaving my babies with a stranger? Are they going to love her more than they love me?” I ask, getting more hysterical with every question.

Luke shushes me and I take a deep breath. “No, you’re not a bad mother, you’re an amazing mother. Our boys are always going to love you as their mother. They’re going to have many teachers and caregivers in their life, but you’ll always be their Mama.” Luke says. “Did you see how happy they looked in that photo? They can have fun and trust others while you’re away because you did such an amazing job setting a solid foundation with them.”

“We did.” I sniff, starting to calm down.

“We did.” Luke affirms. “Feeling better?” He asks, looking at my face, I nod. “I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch together a little later.”

“Rossi’s ordering lunch for the team, I’m sure you can join.” I say.

“No, it’s fine.” Luke assures. “You have lunch with them, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t eating alone on your first day.” Luke says.

“You sure?” I ask.

“Positive!” Luke says with a smile. “I’ll see you later, text me if you need anything. I love you.” Luke says, kissing me.

“I love you too. Thank you for coming to check on me.” I kiss him. 

“Of course!” Luke says. Luke leaves and I sit down and fix my makeup.

Hotch comes to get me after a while, letting me know that lunch is here.

“Dave ordered Italian I hope that’s okay.” He says, walking beside me.

“Okay with me.” I say.

“I told Dave to make sure that he ordered some vegetarian options. You’re still a vegetarian, right?”

“I am, thanks, Hotch. I’m used to just making do when people order out.” I say as we walk into the conference room and I sit next to JJ. We eat and talk and tease. Dave tells the best stories. Reid gives us lots of facts about anything and everything, he’s such an adorable little geek, I just want to eat him up.

After lunch, Hotch meets with me again to discuss the process and criteria for choosing cases. We look at a few possible cases for the team to get involved in.

“Can I ask you a personal question, Aaron?”

“You can ask, I may not answer.” Aaron says.

“How do you do this job with a family? With the long hours and everything?”

“Well, it hasn’t been easy. My marriage fell apart because of this job and she was ultimately taken away from me and Jack, because of this job. I just try to be present with Jack when I’m at home and give the team 100% when I’m here. Luckily, Jack is a little older and understands to a certain extent, what I do, he looks up to me, to him I’m a hero. I come in everyday and do what I do so that he never has to know that monsters are real.” 

“I’m sorry, Aaron.” I say, looking down.

“Don’t be, Jack and I are okay…now.” Hotch says. “Are you feeling guilty about leaving your sons? I could see how close knit your family is.”

“Yeah. I know that plenty of people work, JJ does the same job, for crying out loud, it’s just hard not to feel guilty about leaving them.”

“It gets easier.” He assures. “I happen to know that JJ had a hard time at first when she came back from maternity leave. But I think it makes all the difference when you know you’re leaving them with someone who really loves them. My sister in law, takes care of Jack when I’m working.”

“We have a nanny that I sort of knew before and Luke’s grandma, the one you met at our wedding reception, she’s here for a few months to help ease the transition.”

“If you’d like to ease in the first month or so you can be on call and only come in when we get a case, if that’s helpful.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I think it’s better for everyone if I keep a consistent schedule, at least as consistent as this job can get. I guess I’ll get used to it, this is only my first day, after all. Sorry for distracting you, you were saying?”

“It’s not a problem. Let me know if you change your mind.”

We get back into looking at case files, for a while longer. I fill out some paperwork and head back to my office to shutdown my computers and grab my bags. Luke is waiting outside my office with his backpack when I get there. I walk up to him and give him a kiss and take his hand before unlocking the door and leading us inside.

“So, how was it?” Luke asks.

“It was actually really good.” I say, smiling at him, shutting my computer down.

“You sound a lot better than the last time I saw you.” Luke smiles at me.

“I got to know the team a little better, they all seem like a good group. I think they’re going to be a lot of fun.” I say, Luke wraps his arm around my waist and kisses me on the forehead.

“Good.” He says.

“I even had a heart to heart with Aaron about family and the job….”

“Wait, you had a heart to heart with Hotch? How did you manage that? The man doesn’t get personal, like at all.”

“I don’t know, I just asked, and he answered, obviously. He helped me to put things in perspective a little better.” I say, gathering my things.

“Wow, I always knew you had some sort of magical powers.” Luke laughs. “Well what did he say?” He asks.

“He talked about living in the moment, being present with whoever you’re with at the time and the importance of having someone you know and trust taking care of the kids. Hey, did you know that something happened to his wife? He was kind of vague.”

“Yeah, Phil told me that she was murdered by an unsub that was obsessed with Hotch. The guy, months before surprised Hotch in his apartment and stabbed him nine times.” Luke explains.

“Oh my god!” I gasp. “Please tell me that’s not a normal occurrence.”

“No, it’s not.” Luke assures, wrapping his arms around me.

“Oh, thank god!” I breath out. I lay my head on his shoulder for a few minutes before saying. “Let’s get out of here and see our boys.” We pull apart and Luke grabs my bags. We walk out of my office hand in hand. We walk into the bullpen and Reid is putting his bag around his head and shoulder. Rossi and Hotch are walking down the steps to their offices.

“Oh, hey, Penelope, you should take the vegetarian leftovers from lunch today.” Dave says to me.

“You sure you don’t want them, or someone else?” I ask, looking around to the others.

“No, I ordered it all for you.”

“Thank you.” I say.

“You ready to go Prettyboy?” I hear Derek say as he shuts the door to his office. I look around, wondering who he’s talking to.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Reid says. “Do you want to stop and pick up dinner?” Reid asks, hopefully.

“I’ll go grab the food from the fridge.” I say to Luke, walking away. I come back and Luke, Derek, Spencer, Hotch and Dave are all standing at the elevators talking. I walk over to them.

“So, man how do like working in the same building as your wife?” Derek asks Luke as we step into the elevator.

“I love it.” Luke says.

“You are a brave man.” Rossi says. He, Hotch and Derek chuckle as I press the first floor button.

“A recent study found that couples that are connected by work can provide each other with a unique form of support, making them happier at home and more productive on the job.” Reid says with a close-lipped smile.

“Thank you, Reid.” Luke says.

“There is something to be said for having someone who understands the job.” Hotch says.

“Yeah, but come on, who wants to spend that much time with their wife?” Derek says. “No offense.” He says, looking at me.

“I would.” Luke says, with a smile.

“Wow, you are whipped, man. Whatever she’s giving you must be magic.” Derek says, I roll my eyes. The elevator doors start to open, thank god.

“All of the above.” Luke says. “Have you looked at her?”

“Or we’re just in a mature, loving relationship. Don’t knock it till you try it.” I say, taking Luke’s hand and walking off the elevator.

Luke opens my door for me, giving me a kiss, before throwing all our bags in the back seat and getting in himself.

“I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable with my last comment.” Luke says, starting up the car.

“No, it was fine.” I laugh. “How was your day?” I ask.

We get home and we thank Kiesha. Juanita goes to her apartment over Emilio’s and I spend some extra time with the boys, while Luke makes dinner.

The next day it isn’t any easier to leave my boys, once hugs and kisses have been given all around, Luke and I walk out the door. He walks me to my office again, just like yesterday. We pass Derek along the way and he smirks at us, as he says good morning. Once we make it to my office and Luke puts my bags down, he pulls me into a hug.

“You have another good day. Maybe we can have lunch together today?”

“I would love that.” I say, kissing him. “You have a good day, too.” I say to Luke as he starts to pull away.

He smiles and says. “See you later, Chica.” I give a smile and a wave, before unpacking my things for the day.

I’ve just gotten back from lunch with Luke when we’re called to the conference room. Hotch is going over the details of the case and I’m really trying not to lose my lunch. I sit there with either my eyes on my laptop or looking down at the table. It’s a semi local case in Maryland. JJ stays behind at Quantico, to help me with anything I may need on my first case. I text Luke on my way back to my office and get to work.

I gather information on the victims while the team is on the jet. Hotch calls me for an update, just before they land. He thanks me and compliments me before hanging up. I work for a couple of hours before my cell phone dings. I pick it up and check the message. Keisha sent me an adorable video of my little cuties, Roxy included, playing in the sprinkler. I can’t help but smile. I rewatch the video a couple of times, taking the opportunity to relish in the goodness in the world, before returning to the bad. I take a deep breath and return to my search.

There’s a knock at my door and I finish what I’m doing before going to answer it. Luke’s at the door, looking worried.

“You okay?” He asks, walking in behind me, closing the door behind himself.

I sit back down and turn back to my computer, looking at the search results. “Yeah, why?” I ask.

“It took you a while to open the door, I haven’t really heard from you today. I also just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay with your first case.” Luke says, standing behind me, rubbing my shoulders.

“I was in the middle of something when you knocked, sorry. I’m doing okay. I’ve just been super busy, there’s a lot of pressure.” I say, starting to type again.

“It’s fine.” Luke says, waving off my apology. “You know that you’re not the only one responsible for solving this case?” He asks.

“Yeah, I know that.” I say, glancing at him over my shoulder, before turning back to my monitor.

“I just want to make sure you’re not putting too much pressure on yourself.” Luke says.

“I’m not.” I say, unconvincingly.

“Can you turn around and look at me, please, Penelope?” Luke asks, I turn around and can’t meet his eye. Luke bends down and kisses me and I finally look up at him. “This case is not fully your responsibility.” He repeats. “Make sure you take the time to take care of yourself and our baby.” He says, putting a hand on my stomach, I put my hand on top of his. “Have you eaten anything since we had lunch?” He asks. I shake my head no. “It’s almost 5, do you want me to get you some dinner and bring it back to you?” He asks, I nod, and a tear slips from my eye. Luke drops to his knees in front of me and pulls me into a hug.

“I’m sorry.” I whisper.

We pull apart after a couple of minutes and Luke asks. “What do you want me to bring you?”

“You don’t have to get me anything. Take out is expensive and you need to get home to the boys. I’ll just munch on the snacks that I packed.” I ramble.

“Money’s not an issue and Grandma can stay with the boys a little longer. You need real food, now, what do you want?” He asks.

“Can you get me a wrap from that deli that you and Phil go to, the one you took me to before you went undercover?” I ask with a sniffle.

Luke smiles, kisses me, and asks. “Do you want the same thing?”

“Yes, please.” I confirm.

“Anything else?” Luke asks. I shake my head, Luke leans in and kisses me again, before standing back up.

I catch his hand before he walks away and say. “Thank you, Luke, for taking such good care of me. I love you.”

“Always.” Luke says. “I’ll be back soon.” I give him the code to my office before he leaves.

I’m in the middle of a call with the team when Luke comes back.

“No sir, I’m just not seeing any connection between the 3 victims.” I say, Luke sets a paper shopping bag down on the desk. I look up and smile at him.

“Chrissy and Kimberly’s parents say they were raised in the Catholic Church. They both graduated from Catholic school 5 or 6 years ago. They both turned their backs on the church within the last month. Refused to attend services and wouldn’t talk about why. Maybe that’s the connection.” Prentiss says.

“Garcia, see if you can find information about that?” Hotch asks as I continue to type.

“It looks like there was a police report filed, but charges were dropped, against a Pastor Charles Matthews about a month ago. Looking into him further, he just started at St. Mary’s, before that, he worked at St. Margret’s where there were a few complaints filed against him as well.” I finish. Luke sets my food in front of me and continues to unpack the contents of the bag, he flashes me a smile.

“Garcia, send me…..”

“Already sending it, sir.”

“Thank you, Garcia.” Hotch says, before hanging up.

“Wow, you are amazing.” Luke says with a big smile on his face. I wave him off. “No, I mean it.” Luke says.

I look up at him and can see that he really means it. “Thanks.” I say, with a shrug. “So, what did you bring me? It looks like you brought a lot of food.” I chuckle.

“Well, I brought you two a wrap, as you requested. I also stopped at the bodega across from there and got you a few things for later, to keep in your office. Some fruit, veggies, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, and some granola bars. I’ll also go refill your water bottle before I take off.” Luke says, folding up the paper bag. He sets it down and grabs my water bottle, walking out of my office. I work on putting all the things he bought on my back table, out of the way. I sit back in my seat and open my wrap, taking a bite. I don’t know what I would do without him, what I did before him. Now that I’m actually eating, I discover how hungry I really am. Luke walks back in and I smile at him around another bite. He kisses my forehead as he sets my now full water bottle on the edge of my desk, furthest away from my computer.

I transfer my calls to my cellphone and stand, wrapping my arms around Luke. I pepper him with kisses before pulling away.

“Thank you for everything.” I say, with a smile.

“It was no problem. I should head home.” Luke says, I don’t want to leave Grandma to take care of the boys alone for too long.”

“Yes. I’ll walk you to the elevator. Just let me grab my cell.” I say, reaching down to grab it from my desk. I loop my arm around his as we start to walk.

“I’m gonna miss you tonight.” Luke says.

“I’m gonna miss you too. I don’t imagine I’ll be here all night. Are you still okay with me calling you when I’m ready to come home?” I check. “I can totally get an Uber or a cab.”

“No.” Luke says, firmly. “I’ll be back to get you, when you’re ready.”

“Okay.” I say, pressing the button on the elevator. I give Luke another kiss before he steps inside, I wave. My phone starts ringing as the doors close. I answer as I hustle back to my office. I work until close to 11, when Hotch decides to call it a night. He tells everyone to meet again tomorrow by 7:30. I text Luke and am chatting with security when he arrives. He waves at me and greets the security guard before turning to me.

“You ready?” He asks, taking my bags from my hands.

“Yes.” I say to Luke. “It was nice talking to you, Barry.” I say to the guard, he nods.

“You too, Penelope. Have a good night.” He waves as I turn to walk away.

Luke wraps his free arm around me as we start to walk, and I snuggle into him as much as I can. Luke opens the door for me and helps me in in my heels. Luke gets in the car and I slump a little in my seat and kick my heels off.

“I’m so tired.” I say, rubbing my eyes.

“I bet you are.” Luke says, resting his hand on my thigh for a minute, before taking his hand away to start the car.

“Oooh, before I forget, Hotch wants us all back by 7:30, so we have to leave early tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Luke says, pulling out of the parking garage. “When we get home, you can go right to sleep.”

“Is there anything you need me to do?”

“Nope, everything’s been done- diapers have been washed, I tidied up once the boys went to sleep and our food for tomorrow is all packed up.”

“Wow, thank you, Luke! I really appreciate everything. I’ll make up for my lack of helpfulness today.” I say, rubbing his arm.

“You don’t need to make up for anything, taking care the house is just as much my job as it is yours. Whoever has the time and the energy, gets it done.” Luke shrugs.

“How was your evening?” I ask.

“It was good. Keisha stayed a little later. Apparently, she kept an eye on the boys while Grandma cooked dinner. Grandma was feeding the boys when I got home. Tony, Leo, Roxy, and I went for a little walk before bed. After they went to bed, I talked to Phil for a little while. He’s really enjoying being back at home.” Luke smiles.

“I’m glad. I can only imagine how happy he is to be home.” I say.

“I’ll go by and visit him at some point this week, once your case is over.” Luke says.

I nod. We sit in silence for a couple of minutes before I say. “I’m so bummed that I didn’t see the boys this evening.”

“I know, hopefully tomorrow night.”

“Yeah, I hope.” I say, as we park. I slip my shoes back on and Luke opens my door, helping me out.

Luke sets my bags down, before taking my lunch bag to the kitchen. He sets it on the counter, turns to me and says. “I’ll get this taken care of, why don’t you go take a shower? I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

I nod and slip off my heels, carrying them upstairs. I open the door to the twins’ room and watch them sleep for a minute, before closing their door and continuing to my bedroom. I put my heels in the closet, grab some pajamas, and take a shower. The warm water feels so good against my tight muscles, I didn’t realize how sore I was until now. I guess I did sit in that chair for close to 12 hours, I’ll have to be sure to take more breaks, throughout the day.

Luke’s already stripped and in bed, by the time I come out of the bathroom. He quickly puts his book down on the nightstand when he sees me. I climb in bed and Luke is wrapping his arm around me before I can get myself situated. I chuckle at his enthusiasm. I finally get myself comfortable and Luke pulls me in tighter.

“I missed you.” Luke says in a low voice with a kiss.

“I missed you too. Regretting encouraging me to take this job?” I ask.

“No, it’s just going to take some getting used to, is all.” I hum in acknowledgement. “Get some sleep.” Luke says, kissing me again. I snuggle into the crook of his neck and fall asleep quickly.

I wake to kisses from Luke. I open my eyes and smile at him. “Mama.” I hear, being yelled. I look over and the boys are both running into our room, full speed. Juanita follows at a slower pace. Luke helps them onto the bed and both boys wrap their arms around me.

“I’m gonna go take a quick shower, while you have some time with them.” Luke says. I can only nod, I’m close to tears. We snuggle in bed together for 15 or so minutes, talking about what they did yesterday and what they’ll do today. Luke emerges from the closet fully dressed and asks. “Who’s ready for breakfast?”

“Nana!” Tony yells, excitedly.

“Yeah, let’s go get you a banana.” Luke chuckles. He scoops both boys up as I stand. We give each other a kiss as we pass.

By the time I’m dressed and ready, there’s not really time for me to eat breakfast. I go down the stairs and head into the kitchen. The boys are in their highchairs eating breakfast. Luke has both of our lunch boxes sitting on the counter.

“We gotta go, if you want to be on time.” Luke says, looking at his watch, giving me a kiss on the cheek as he passes me. I nod. “I packed you some blueberries and took out a yogurt for you to eat on the way into work.” He says, pointing to the items in question, he even took a spoon out for me. I grab them and give Juanita a hug and a kiss, giving each boy a quick kiss on the head, narrowly escaping messy hands.

Once we’re in the car, I start on my breakfast. “Thank you for getting breakfast ready for me.” I say, popping a blueberry into my mouth. Luke nods. “Thanks also for giving me that time with the boys. It was heaven.” I gush. “Just what I needed.”

“I’m glad.” Luke says, flashing me a smile, before turning back to the road.

“How did you sleep?” I ask him.

“Not good. I only got a couple hours. I woke up with a nightmare and couldn’t go back to sleep.” He shrugs.

“I’m sorry.” I say, resting my hand on his leg. “You seem kind of quiet this morning, Is everything okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’m just tired.” Luke laughs. “If you can believe it. See, you spoiled me.” He chuckles again. “You got me too used to a good night’s sleep.” He says.

“I’m sorry, I’m a monster.” I say with a smile. He puts his hand over mine resting on his leg. “I hope we can wrap this case today.”

Luke carries my bags and walks me to my office, like usual. We make out in my office for a few minutes before my phone starts to ring. Luke looks more awake, with his usual smile on his face when he leaves. I sit down and put my headset on. “Garcia’s house of knowledge, how may I help you?” I say, feeling too high from making out with Luke. Before I can apologize for my lack of professionalism, Hotch speaks.

“You sound like you’re in a good mood this morning.” He chuckles. “The whole team is here, you’re on speaker.” He continues, I turn red. JJ walks in my office and joins in the call. We all talk for a while about what angle we’re going to explore, and everyone is given an assignment.

I work for a while, until mid-morning. I get up to stretch my legs, walking to the kitchenette to make myself a cup of tea and having some pistachios and a banana. My phone dings as I finish and turn back to my computer. It’s a few photos of my boys at the library, sweet.

I dig deeper into this Charles Matthews guy, the more I learn about him, the more he gives me the creeps. I get an alert that there’s been another murder that matches our M.O. and call Hotch to let him know. We’re almost certain Matthews is our unsub we just can’t seem to get ahead of him. I blow out a breath and take a few deep breaths.

I decide to take lunch a little early. I transfer the calls to my cell and grab my lunch, heading for the elevator. I get off the elevator and walk through the bullpen towards Luke’s desk. He’s on the phone and smiles at me in greeting. I smile at him in return. I point to the kitchenette, indicating that I’ll be waiting there for him to finish his call, he shakes his head no.

“Thank you so much for the information, ma’am. You were extremely helpful. Have a good day.” He says before hanging up the phone. “Hey, you’re early.” He says, standing up, walking to me, and giving me a kiss.

“Yeah, I just needed a break. Is it an okay time?” I ask, looking around.

“It’s fine.” Luke says, taking my hand and leading me to the kitchenette. We sit down to eat, Luke asks. “Why didn’t you just text me, I could have come upstairs?”

“I’m trying to get up and move more during the day. I was sore yesterday from all the time I spent sitting.” I explain.

“How come you didn’t tell me? I’ll give you a massage tonight if you’re home early enough.”

“Well, I guess that means we better wrap this case this afternoon.” I say. “Because I would love that.”

“Yeah, you should.”

“This case is so frustrating. We pretty much know who we’re looking for, we just can’t get ahead of him.” I say in a huff.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Luke says, putting his hand on mine. I turn my hand over and lace our fingers. “Unfortunately, that’s just how it goes sometimes. Know that you are doing everything you can.”

“I know.” I start. “It’s just hard when more people are dying or being traumatized because of me.”

“It’s not because of you.” Luke says, holding eye contact. “The unsub his fully responsible, not you.” He says.

“I know, but….”

“I know you have a big heart and you feel very deeply, but you have to understand and believe…” I roll my eyes, “at least somewhat, that this is not your fault, you bear no responsibility for what these guys do. I don’t want you walking around with that kind of guilt. It’s not your fault.” He repeats.

“I guess, I have to keep reminding myself of that.” I say, sniffling and blinking. 

Luke puts his fork down and stands, he bends down and wraps me in a hug. He whispers. “I love you.” In my ear.

I feel better after my lunch and talk with Luke. I head back to the 6th floor. JJ is sitting at her desk, she looks up as I pass and says.

“Hey, Penelope, Hotch wants to talk to you when you get back to your office.”

“He could have called, I switched over to the cell.” I say, checking for missed calls.

“It was just 10 minutes ago that he called. I told him you were on lunch, he said it could wait.” I nod, JJ stands and starts walking with me to my office. “So, did you have a good lunch with Luke? You look like you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah, just being close to him helps immensely. He also tried to get me to buy into not being responsible for these murders.” I roll my eyes as I punch in the numbers on the keypad.

“You’re not.” JJ says, resting her hand on my arm, momentarily. She follows me into my office, and I walk towards my desk. “Look, I know that this job comes with a lot of guilt. It can leave you questioning every decision you make. Believe me, I’ve been there. But we can’t save everyone and that’s just something you have to accept. I try to think about if we weren’t out here doing what we do, how many more victims there would be. Otherwise, you won’t last long in this job. And, Penelope, you’re amazing at what you do. We’re farther along on this case than we would normally be in this amount of time. You are helping, Penelope.” I’m fighting back tears and JJ bends down and hugs me, rubbing my back.

“Thank you.” I sniff, as she pulls back. “Just between us, your speech was so much better and more useful than Luke’s.” I say with a chuckle.

JJ laughs and says. “My lips are sealed.” She pretends to zip her lips and throw away the key, I laugh. She squeezes my shoulder. “Take a minute and give Hotch a call. I’ll see you later.”

I spend a couple minutes looking at some pictures of my boys on my phone to calm down, before giving Hotch a call.

When I get off the phone with Hotch there’s a text from Luke, I check it.

-I’m sorry I lectured you at lunch, instead of just listening to how you’re feeling. I promise, I’ll be there to listen if you still want to talk tonight. I love you.

I text him back.

-That’s okay. I still love you!

We get a break in the case in the afternoon. I dig into his childhood more and find a distant uncle that only became distant when Matthews was 12. I unseal a police report and find out that the uncle had been abusing Matthews for years. He would seem like he was doing the good uncle thing and spending lots of time with his nephew. According to the report, the uncle abused him for years in the office of the factory he owned. The uncle died a week ago, which was the stressor. I send the address of the warehouse and the team goes to check it out. They find the latest victim alive and take Matthews into custody.

I look at my watch and see that Luke will be leaving for his therapy session soon. I take my headset off and shoot Luke a text as I stand and rush to my door, wanting to see him before he leaves. I open my door and run right into Luke’s chest he loosely wraps his arms around me.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I smile, Luke kisses me. “I just texted you.” I say, backing us into my office.

“I know, I got your text as I was walking here. I just came by to see you before I left for the day.”

Once the door shuts behind Luke, I back him into the door and attack his mouth. I pull back after a few minutes and say. “We wrapped the case. I’ll be home tonight.”

“Good, because I need to show you how sorry I am about earlier.”

“How are you going to do that?” I ask with a smile.

Luke leans in close to my ear and whispers. “First I plan to worship every part of your beautiful body with my mouth, then I’ll turn my attention to my favorite spot between your legs all while I pleasure myself.” I moan, Luke grinds his erection into me. He leans in to kiss me, swallowing my next moan. We kiss for a few more minutes before Luke lays his head on my shoulder and takes a few deep breaths.

“You okay?” I ask, kissing his ear, Luke shivers.

“Yeah, I just need to calm down before I leave your office.” I back up a bit, Luke’s hold tightens, not allowing me to back up too far.

“I’m trying to give you some space, Luke.” I say, he loosens his hold a bit and stands upright again. “Come on.” I say, pulling up my extra chair, we both sit down.

“So, I guess you’re ready to go, huh?” Luke asks, I nod. “I guess we didn’t account for this, with us commuting together. Do you want to hang out in the lobby while I have my appointment?” He asks. “Because I know you won’t just let me skip it.”

“You’re right, I won’t” I smile. “I’ll see if JJ can give me a ride.” I say, pulling out my phone and texting her. “She says yes, she’ll be ready in about 15.”

“Good.” Luke says, leaning in for another kiss, he places a few more lingering kisses on my lips before saying. “I should get going.” He stands and I watch him adjust himself, biting my lip. I stand as well and grab a tissue, cleaning the little bit of lipstick transfer from his face. “Thank you.” He smiles. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you. Have a good session.” I smile, as he leaves.

I get home and thank Keisha for everything, so far, this week. She waves off my thanks with a ‘no problem’ and gathers her things before leaving. Juanita says.

“I’m going to go too. I started dinner for you all, it’s in the oven. I set a timer.”

I give her a hug. “Thank you for staying late with the boys yesterday evening and for staying over last night. I don’t know what Luke and I would do without you.”

“You two would manage, I’m sure. But it’s not a problem. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She smiles, she picks the boys up and says goodbye to them.

I spend the next half hour or so playing with the boys, enjoying my time with them. The oven timer goes off and I get dinner from the oven, before getting the boys in their highchairs.

We’re in the backyard running around when Luke gets home. He chases down each boy and attacks them with kisses until their laughing hysterically. He turns his eyes on me and I can see the mischief in his eyes.

“No Luke, don’t you dare.” I say to him from the other side of the backyard. He takes off running towards me, I start to run, he catches me pretty quickly and attacks me with kisses as well. I swat Luke in the chest when he’s done. He holds me while I catch my breath. Leo comes up and wraps his hand around my leg, checking on me. “I’m okay.” I say to him, picking him up.

Luke bends down and kisses my stomach a couple of times. “I haven’t forgotten about you, little one.” He says, placing one final kiss on my belly. We take the twins inside and give them a bath. Luke reads them their bedtime stories while we all snuggle in our bed. We carry two drowsy boys to their cribs, giving them kisses before laying them down.

We get some chores done and Luke eats a late dinner before we head to bed. We talk for a while and Luke gives me a massage. He makes good on his promise of showing me just how sorry he is.

I wake before the alarm the next morning and Luke is still sleeping. I lay there looking at this beautiful man in my arms and I smile. I still can’t believe I’m lucky enough to spend my life with someone so amazing. Who would have thought that I would find a man so sweet, loving and kind. I never thought I’d be settled down, married with kids. Commitment was always something that I ran from. Because there’s always that possibility of losing them. I still have that fear but try to turn it around and appreciate the time I have with the people I love, instead of running away. I relax and just lay there enjoying my time wrapped in his arms.

The alarm goes off and I reach over and turn it off. Luke flutters his eyes open with a smile, pulling me in closer to him and kissing me.

“Good morning.” He says in a rough voice. “Were you already up?” Luke asks, pulling me on top of him as he settles on his back.

“Yeah, I’ve been up for a little while, about a half an hour.” I say as Luke settles his arms around me.

“Everything okay?” He asks.

“Yeah, perfectly fine. I just laid here enjoying being held by you and thinking about what an amazing husband I have.” I smile, Luke looks away, I’ve embarrassed him. “You look like you slept well.” I comment, with a kiss.

“I did, I slept through the night without a problem.”

“Good, I’m happy for you.” I beam at him as I hear a little Leo giggle in the distance and laugh. “It sounds like Leo is happy for you too.” I say, before resting my forehead on his chest. Luke rests his hand on the back of my head and kisses the top of my head. After a couple minutes, I say. “I’ll go get them up and changed, you go ahead and get ready first.” 

“Okay.” Luke says, not letting go, he gives me one more kiss before releasing me.

Luke meets us in the nursery just as I’m finishing dressing the boys. He takes them down to get breakfast going while I get ready. I emerge a short time later and have a quick breakfast before we head out the door.

It’s a pretty laid back day. The team works on paperwork for the most part. This being only my fourth day of work, I don’t have a backlog of paperwork. Hotch says I can leave at lunch time. Before I leave, plans are made to go out for drinks tonight. Luke ducks out of work early too, taking some personal hours. We take a walk, hand in hand through the park before heading home to surprise our boys.

Luke and I give Juanita a kiss and thank her for staying with the boys while we drive to O’Keefe’s. We walk in and look around, Prentiss waves us over and we greet everyone. “Why are you guys so late?” JJ asks, looking at her watch.

“We wanted to get the boys down before we left, make it a little easier on Luke’s Grandma.” I say.

“Well, you guys are behind. You got some catching up to do.” Will says, raising his beer.

Luke and I both smile. “I’ll go get us drinks.” He says, kissing my cheek before walking to the bar.

“So, I saw that you got out of work early today, lucky.” Prentiss says with a smile.

“Yep, I got saved from a day of paperwork.” I smile.

“I hate paperwork so much.” Derek says.

“You know if you just sat down and did it, it wouldn’t be so bad.” Reid says, taking a drink from his glass.

“Or I could just get my genius best friend to help me out.” Derek says with a smile.

“You know, I won’t always be there.” Reid says, fighting a smile.

“Where you going Prettyboy?” Derek asks, settling his arm around Reid.

Luke returns with a beer for himself and a Shirley Temple for me. I make eye contact with him and ask without words if it’s alcohol free. He scoffs and says. “Of course.” I take a drink as he wraps his arm around my back.

“Of course, what?” Prentiss asks. “Did you two have a whole conversation without saying a word?” She asks.

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Derek says with a laugh. “Those two are unnaturally close.”

“We are not.” I say, waving him off.

“No, they’re not, they’re cute.” JJ says. I snuggle into Luke’s chest. “You just don’t understand because you’ve never been in love.” She continues.

“Maybe.” Derek says, eying her skeptically.

“So, Penelope, how are you adjusting to work so far?”

“Good Aaron.” Everyone either looks up or whips their head around to look at me. “What? Did I say something wrong?” I ask, feeling self-conscious.

“It’s fine.” Aaron says. “No one calls me by my first name, everyone calls me Hotch is all.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know, I thought maybe since we were out in a social situation…” I ramble.

Aaron cuts me off. “You can call me whatever you’d like while we’re out like this, since we knew each other socially first.” I nod. That gets us more strange looks from the crowd, which we ignore.

“To answer your question,” I start, “I’m adjusting well, a lot better. I took your advice and Luke was great while we were working the case.” I finish.

“That’s good. Let me know if that changes.” Aaron says.

“I will.”

“This is my jam, who’s gonna come dance with me?” Everyone avoids eye contact. “Prettyboy?” Derek asks.

“You know I don’t dance.” Reid says.

“Come on, somebody?”

“I’ll dance with you.” I say, standing up, Luke stands up to let me out of the booth. “I’ll be back in a few.” I say, giving him a kiss.

Derek and I dance to a couple of songs before we come back to the table, laughing. “That was so much fun.” I say, sitting next to Luke and finishing my drink.

“I’m gonna go get another drink for myself, do you want another?” Derek asks me.

“Just a water please.” I say.

“You sure, you’ve only had one and it’s not a school night.”

“I’m sure.” I smile. “Thanks.” Derek shrugs and walks away.

Derek brings my water a few minutes later and we all talk and laugh for a while longer. Luke leans close and says. “I’m gonna run to the bathroom and get another beer, would you like another drink?”

“Yes, please.” I say, standing to let him out and he gives me a kiss. I watch him walk away admiring his ass in those tight jeans.

I turn back to the table and everyone is smirking at me. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” I rush out.

“I’ll join.” JJ and Prentiss both say, standing up and fighting their way out of the booth.

“I don’t understand why they all have to go to the bathroom together.” I hear Reid say as we walk away.

I use the bathroom and wash my hands. I’m standing in the mirror fixing my hair when I say. “I can’t believe everyone caught me checking out Luke’s ass, I’m so embarrassed.”

“He’s your husband it’s fine.” Prentiss assures.

“And it is a nice ass.” JJ says. I look at her wide mouthed. “What? You’d have to be blind not to notice, right Emily?” Prentiss looks away. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happily married, but I can still admire, can’t I?” JJ asks.

“I guess you can.” I say, reapplying lipstick.

“So, how do you and Hotch know each other?” Prentiss asks.

“He and Luke are kind of close, he came to our wedding reception and baby shower.” I shrug, Prentiss nods.

“You guys ready to go?” JJ asks.

We leave the bathroom and head back out to the table. All the men stand to let us back in. Luke nudges my drink in front of me and I thank him and take a sip.

“You know, I could have gotten you a Shirley Temple when I got my beer.” Derek says, motioning to my drink.

“This one doesn’t have alcohol.” I say being intentionally vague.

Everyone’s looking between us and I’m sure I’m turning red.

“Why didn’t you just tell me you wanted an alcohol free one?”

“Because I didn’t want everyone asking questions” I say.

Derek opens his mouth to say something else when Aaron sternly says. “Morgan, drop it. When she’s ready to share she will.”

Tension settles over the table and Luke whispers. “Do you want to dance?” He stands and extends his hand to me. We walk hand in hand to the dance floor and sway to the slow song currently playing.

“You okay?” Luke asks.

“Yeah, just a little caught off guard. Do you think we should just tell them?” I ask.

“I’ll leave that up to you, they’re your coworkers. But I’m fine with them knowing. We’re almost 12 weeks, almost through the first trimester. If you want to wait a while longer, I’ll support you too.” Luke says leaning down to give me a kiss.

“I guess we should just tell them, it’s not likely that it’s gonna remain a secret for much longer. Between my stomach getting bigger and being surrounded by a bunch of profilers, it’s only a matter of time.” I say, blowing out a breath.

“You sure?” Luke asks.

“I just hope JJ isn’t upset that I didn’t tell her first.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand.” Luke assures.

“I hope you’re right.” I say, as I lay my head on his chest and enjoy the rest of our dance.

We head back to the table and everyone’s saying goodbye to Hotch.

“Come on, Hotch. You can stay a little longer.” Luke coaxes with a smile.

Hotch smirks. “I’ll leave you young people to it. Will, good to see you. I’ll see the rest of you on Monday, hopefully not before.” He says, waving and walking away.

“So, I wanted to tell you all something.” I start, everyone looks at me. “The reason I was drinking, the reason I can’t drink is because I’m pregnant.” I look around and there are shocked looks around the table.

Prentiss recovers first and says. “Congratulations!” Walking over to give me a hug.

“Thank you.”

Will comes to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, JJ is the next to snap out of it. She mouths ‘wow,’ before coming over to hug me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you first.” I whisper to her.

“I suspected. But I thought there was no way.” She whispers. “We’ll meet for coffee…or tea” She says, motioning to me with a chuckle.

Reid congratulates me from a distance and Morgan says. “Damn man!” Giving Luke a handshake. “You must got it going on.” He winks at Luke. “3, that’s a lot, man.”

“Can you believe she wants 5?” Luke asks with a laugh, pulling me closer.

“5?” Derek questions.

“What? I grew up in a big family, I have four brothers.” I say, everyone nods.

“When are you due?” Will asks.

“The beginning of March, I’m almost 12 weeks.”

“Wow, 12 weeks and not showing.” Prentiss, exclaims.

“They’re well hidden.” I laugh.

“Are you worried about having twins again?” JJ asks.

“Terrified!” Luke exclaims with a laugh.

I swat at his chest and say. “A little.”

“You know.” Reid starts. “Since your first set of twins were fraternal, I’m guessing?” He looks to us for confirmation, I nod. “Your odds of having another set is multiplied by 4. You have a 1 in 12 chance of having another set of twins.” Reid finishes.

“Not helping.” I say, everyone laughs.

Reid mumbles an apology and looks down. “It’s okay, Prettyboy. You can’t help it with that big ol’ brain of yours.” Derek says with a smile, mussing Reid’s hair. Reid huffs and slaps Derek’s hand away, everyone laughs. 

“How’s Phil doing?” JJ asks.

“He’s doing really well. He got to go home a week or so ago. There’s a nurse with him at all times, but honestly, he’s just happy to be home. I’m gonna stop by to visit this weekend.”

“I can’t imagine. Tell him I said ‘hi,’ we’re all thinking of him.” JJ says.

“I will.” Luke says. A somber mood settles over the table and we call it a night.

While Luke walks Juanita to her apartment, I check on the boys and get changed into my pajamas. I’m lying in bed when Luke comes in and strips down, pulling me close.

“Do you need a massage tonight?” Luke asks, kissing my forehead.

“No, I’m okay. I wasn’t at work too long. Thank you.”

“Anytime, just let me know when.”

“So….” I start, tentatively. “Are you really terrified of the possibility of me being pregnant with twins?” I ask, not looking up.

“No.” Luke says, firmly. “I was just joking.” He chuckles. “It would be a lot, to have 4 babies under 2 years old, but we’d work it out." Luke says. “How about you, are you more scared now that Reid gave us those stats?”

“No, not really. We’ll face whatever comes.” I say.

“Speaking of coming.” Luke says, diving into kissing me, his hand starts to unbutton my pajama shirt.

Saturday morning, we get off to a lazy start. Luke and I cuddle, kiss, and talk in bed for a while before the twins wake up. Once they get up, we bring them in bed with us for snuggles and stories. We all get up and head over to Emilio’s for breakfast with Juanita. Luke runs back home and grabs Roxy before going to the Farmers Market. It’s kid’s day at the Market and the boys have a ball.

Tony gets his face painted. Leo is unsure about the whole thing, he only allows them to paint a small dog on his cheek after Luke gets one painted too. I take lots of pictures of the three of them. We head over to the petting zoo, next, where Luke and Tony go pet all the animals. I stand, holding Leo in my arms and Roxy’s leash, a little distance away talking about the different animals and the sounds that they make. Afterwards, we blow giant bubbles that the twins enjoy chasing.

We get some shopping done and stop and see Mary. We all share a giant cookie before heading home for a quick lunch which the twins fall asleep in the middle of.

“I guess we wore them out.” Luke laughs cleaning a sleeping Tony’s hands and face. He takes Tony out of his highchair, carrying him up the stairs while I clean Emilio and follow a couple minutes behind. Both boys stay asleep when they’re laid down, we close the door to a crack and go back downstairs to clean up. “I can take care of putting this stuff away and cleaning up.” Luke says. “If you want to relax.”

“I’m fine.” I say, taking the highchair tray over to the garbage.

“You sure?” Luke asks, wrapping his arm around my waist and resting a hand on my stomach. “We were out in the heat all morning long and Leo wanted you to carry him around for a while.”

“I’m fine, Luke. A little over a month ago, this was my full-time job.” I say, setting the tray on the counter to wipe it down. “I had some water, and I ate some lunch, I’ll relax when we’re done.” I assure. Luke looks at me skeptically, I tip my head up and give him a kiss. “I’m fine.” I say again, he bends down and kisses me again before walking away to unpack our Farmers Market bags.

Thanks to Luke’s insistence, I spend some time relaxing on the couch, getting a foot massage. I guess there are worse ways to spend an afternoon.

“So, where are we going to put this baby?” I ask, Luke stops his foot massage and just looks at me. “Do we buy another crib? Do we move the boys to toddler beds? Do we put them all in the nursery together and keep our last guest room or do we convert our last guest room to another nursery?”

“I think it’ll be too much to have them all in one room. I think, we unfortunately lose our last guest room.” Luke says.

“You’re right, it would be too much. At least we have the apartment above Emilio’s for guests.”

“True.” Luke agrees.” I think this is the limit on how many kids we can fit in this house. If you really want five, we’re going to have to move.”

“I don’t want to move. I love this place.” I say, suddenly feeling sad. “Emilio’s is around the corner and the park a couple blocks away and the library.”

“We don’t have to make that decision right now.” Luke soothes. “We have enough room for this baby.” He chuckles.

“I don’t know, this may have to be our last anyway, this will be the last before I turn 35, then it’ll be considered a ‘geriatric pregnancy’” I say, using air quotes.

“Are you kidding?” I shake my head. “That’s what they call it?” Luke asks, I nod. “How do you feel about that?” Luke asks.

“I don’t know. Three might be a nice number too. I guess we should just see how it goes with them being so close together.” I say.

“I think three sounds like a nice number, but I’m willing to go for however many you want. You know I don’t mind the work of making them.” Luke says, with a smile.

“Yeah, you have the fun part.” I chuckle.

“So much fun.” Luke says.

I laugh. “So, do we buy another crib? I’m not sure that I’m ready to move the boys to beds.”

“I know I’m not ready.” Luke chuckles, he releases my foot and puts it back on the floor, coming to sit next to me. “The boys will be a month or two from two years when this one is born.” He says, putting one arm around me and a hand on my stomach. “This one can go in the basinet for a while and the boys can transition to beds a little after two.”

“I like that plan so much more.” I chuckle. “Could you imagine if Tony wasn’t in a crib? We’d wake up to find him standing on the top of their big bookshelf getting ready to jump off.”

“We would.” Luke laughs. “What do you think, boy or girl?” He asks.

“I’m thinking girl.” I say. “What do you think?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Luke says. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, they’ll be raised the same as their brothers, right?”

“Right, but, oh, wouldn’t it be so much fun to shop for girl’s clothes, little dresses and bows?” I gush.

“Not my thing.” Luke says with a laugh. “But that would be fun for you.”

We spend the rest of the day with the boys. Luke visits Phil on Sunday and the boys and I spend the day hanging out at home.

The second week at work, it’s a little easier being away from the twins. As much as I love my boys and love motherhood, Luke was right, I need more out of life. I give them everything I’ve got while I’m at home with them and try to let go of the guilt of working.

We’re called in on back to back cases that has me working through the weekend and into week three. We finally wrap the second case on Wednesday. After writing up reports and a debriefing, we’re ordered not to come back to work until Monday. During the ride home from work that evening, Luke convinces me to take one of those days for myself, go shopping, go to the spa, spend the day at the art museum, hang out with JJ or Ivonne.

“There is an art workshop that’s held at the Museum the 4th Thursday of the month. I’ll see if there’s any spots available.” I gush at the possibility. I pull out my phone and look into it, one spot left, I quickly register. “Done, I’m all signed up. It doesn’t start till 9:30, I guess I’ll ride with you and get there early.” Luke looks over at me with a big smile, probably finding my enthusiasm funny.

“I’ll just go into work a little later.” Luke says. “I can come pick you up on my lunch break.” He continues.

“I’ll see if JJ wants to meet for lunch, I’m sure she won’t mind giving me a ride home after.” I say as I text JJ. She’s free and would love to, we decide to invite Prentiss too.

“All figured out?” Luke asks as he parks.

“Yep, Emily will pick me up from the Museum since she doesn’t live far. All three of us will have lunch and JJ will drop me back at home.” I explain, opening my door.

Luke takes my hand and helps me out, giving me a kiss on my cheek. “Good.” He says, before grabbing our bags from the backseat.

Luke walks in the following evening, I’ve just finished giving the boys their dinner and have just sat down to eat. I stand to make him a plate and he motions for me to sit back down. He kisses us each on the forehead in turn, starting with the boys, before moving around the island to get some food. He sits down next to me and he gives me a side hug before asking.

“How was your class this morning?”

“Amazing!” I say. “This one was all about portraits. We looked at some famous ones like Van Gogh, Picasso, and the Mona Lisa. We also looked at some lesser known portraits and self-portraits. We compared different styles and techniques. We even created our own self portrait at the end of class. Mine was still wet, so I left it there, I’ll have to pick it up this weekend.”

Luke’s smiling wide at me, eyes sparkling. “I can’t wait to see it.” He says, mirroring my enthusiasm. “I’m so glad you enjoyed your morning. How was your lunch with the ladies?” Luke asks.

“It was so good. We went to the Indian place in the neighborhood. How was your day?” I ask.

“It was okay, I’m kind of stuck on a case I’m working on.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, getting up to get the boys more food.

“No, I think I’ll talk it over with Phil. It’ll be kind of like old times, he’s been dying to get back to work, it’ll help him feel useful. Thank you for offering.”

“No problem, I totally understand. Hey, what are you doing home so early?” I ask.

“Oh, Dr. James had a family emergency, he had to cancel at the last minute. I was in the car driving over to his office when he called.”

“I hope everything’s okay.” I say.

“I hope so too. He said he’ll try to reschedule me for tomorrow or the weekend, so, it doesn’t sound too bad.” Luke shrugs.

We finish our dinner and take the boys for a walk before bed. We read bedtime stories while snuggled together in our bed.

The next morning around 4 a.m., Luke jerks awake yelling.

“Shh, Luke, it was a dream, you’re okay, you’re safe, you’re home.” I assure as I rub his back. He pulls me in closer, breathing heavily. I can faintly hear Leo starting to fuss, I’m hoping he’ll just go back to sleep and not wake his brother. No such luck, Tony starts crying too.

“I’m sorry.” Luke mumbles.

“No need to be sorry. Will you be okay if I go get them?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He says, not looking at me.

“Hey.” I say, catching his eye. “Are you really okay? They can wait a couple of minutes, they’re safely in their cribs.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m gonna go for a jog, will you be okay getting them back to sleep?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. I’ll just bring them in here with me. You go clear your head. Be safe.” I say, kissing him.

“I will, thank you.” Luke says, slipping out of bed and getting dressed. I get up and go get the boys, carrying them to our bed. I prop myself up against the headboard and snuggle each boy against my side. Luke slips out of the room quietly and I rub their backs until they go back to sleep. I reach over and turn the alarm clock off, thinking we all deserve to sleep in to make up for this. I’m dozing lightly when Luke comes back from his jog. “Hey.” He says, leaning over me and kissing my forehead. He takes Leo from my arm and lays him in the middle of the bed next to Tony. I lay Tony down on the bed and scoot down myself, facing Luke.

“You feeling better?” I whisper to him.

“Yeah, I’m feeling much better. Thank you.” I give a slow nod, closing my eyes. I reach my arm over the twins and run my fingers through Luke’s hair for a while before I drift off to sleep myself.

The next time I wake up it’s almost 8:00, Luke and the twins are still sleeping. I lay there appreciating this moment. Tony is turned towards me, Leo is on his back and Luke is on his side, facing Leo, with his arm resting on everyone. I admire my family while they sleep. Anthony’s still a little small for his age, he’s my tiny firecracker, always on the move, looking for his next great adventure. Emilio, definitely the bigger of the two. My sensitive boy who would be perfectly content to look at books all day. They both looks so much like their father, I love it. I look to the wild, mess of dark curls on top of all three of their heads and have to stop myself from laughing. The one big difference between my three boys is their eye color- Leo’s eyes stayed blue, Tony’s eyes changed to hazel and then there’s Luke’s honey eyes that are currently locked on me. I smile at him and he squeezes my hip with the hand draped over us all and smiles back.

I reach my hand out and start to run my fingers through his hair. Luke closes his eyes, taking a couple deep breaths and opens his eyes again, looking at me.

“Good morning.” He whispers.

“Morning.” I smile. “Sleep okay?”

“Yeah, I did. I must have slept through my alarm.”

“I turned it off. I figured you should just sleep if that’s what you need.” I say, twirling one of his curls around my finger.

“I’m sorry I left you to take care of the boys alone early this morning. I just wasn’t thinking straight, and I needed to get up and get out for a while.”

“We managed, as you can see. Was it a bad one?”

“Yeah, it was. I think the only reason I was able to go back to sleep was being able to hold all of you. I knew you all were safe.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie! Maybe you should take a mental health day, stay home with me and the boys.”

“I might just do that. I’ll probably still go over to Phil’s for a little while and talk to him about that case, I don’t want that to sit over the weekend.” I nod. “But, for now, I just want to enjoy this time laying here with my gorgeous wife and my three.” He stops and chuckles, before continuing “Maybe four children.”

“Mmm, that’s what I’ve been doing. I love how much our boys look just like you. I really hope this one does too.” I whisper.

“Maybe this one will look like you, that would be nice, too.”

“No.” I say, shaking my head. “I want this one to look like they belong with the rest of you. I spent my childhood in a family where I didn’t look like everyone else, not even my mother. I look more like my biological father. Even though I was treated the same and everyone told me it didn’t matter, I still saw the looks, the stares as people try to puzzle out what was going on with my family. You know? I don’t want that for any of my children. Besides, when their Papa looks the way that you do, why wouldn’t I want them to look like you?” I finish. Luke looks away. “Do I embarrass you when I say things like that?” I ask.

He shrugs. “A little, I don’t know. I don’t see anything special when I look in the mirror. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I think I’m ugly or anything. I guess I just don’t see what all the fuss is about.” Luke says.

“I guess I'll have to step up my efforts to help you see what I see.”

“What do you see?” Luke whispers.

“Well, I see a man in incredible physical shape for his job where he has to seem tough and intimidating, but in reality, is the gentlest softy. He's got an incredible smile that takes over his whole face, bringing out adorable dimples. He also has an amazing sense of humor. I see a man with beautiful eyes that draw me in and reassure me when I'm feeling unsure. Warm brown eyes that change tone in the light. I see full kissable lips and a strong jawline, covered in stubble because he knows how much I love it. I see thick, dark curly hair that I love to run my hands through. Strong hands that give the best massages and are so delicate with the things and people he cares about. I see a body riddled with various scars, all received while helping and protecting others. I see a man so incredibly loving, patient and nurturing that I’m ecstatic that I get to call him my husband.” I finish. We both prop ourselves on our elbows and lean over the boys, giving each other a kiss. “I love you, Luke. All the parts of you.” I say as we pull apart.

“But what if I want a little bit of you in our kids too?” Luke asks.

“Careful what you ask for.” I scoff. “Have you met our son, Tony?” I ask. Tony opens his eyes and looks at me, probably at hearing his name. I run my hand over his hair and give him a kiss on the cheek.

Luke laughs. “He’s just got a mind of his own and a little spunk.” Luke says as Tony rubs at his eyes. I sit up and scoop him up into my arms, holding him close while he wakes up.

“I know, it’s just a hard, sometimes lonely life.” I say, softly, looking down at Tony. Luke hums in acknowledgment. He picks up Leo and sits up, scooting close to me. He leans over and gives me a couple of kisses. Luke puts his arm around me, and I lay my head on his shoulder. We sit in silence for a while before Tony wakes up fully and starts squirming to get out of my lap. “Are you ready to get up?” I ask.

“Up.” He repeats.

“Do you want to go eat?” I ask him. He nods. I scoot to the edge of the bed, with him in my arms. “Can you sit with Papa for a minute while I go to the bathroom?” I ask.

“Come here Tony,” Luke says, opening his now free arm to him. “Come give me morning kisses.” Tony crawls over to Luke and gives him a wet kiss. I stand from the bed and start walking to the bathroom. “What do you think Mama will give you….” I hear as I shut the door to the bathroom. I use the bathroom and wash my hands quickly, a practice I’ve perfected from being the mother of twins for almost a year and a half. I open the door and Luke is talking about breakfast options with Tony and now an awake Leo too.

“Ready?” I ask with a smile, standing at the edge of the bed. Tony crawls over and stands. I take his hand and he jumps off the bed. “You guys coming yet?” I ask Luke, Tony’s already run out of the room, he’s standing and rattling the stair gate.

“No, we’ll sit and wake up for a little bit.”

“Okay, see you soon.” I say, rushing from the room. Tony bottom scoots down the steps after I open the gate. He runs over to his highchair and looks up at me. I set him inside and wash his hands with a cloth before giving him a banana to start with. I pop a couple of slices of bread in the toaster, slathering them with peanut butter and cutting one up for Tony. I give him his sippy cup of milk and sit down to eat my breakfast.

A short while later, Luke walks in carrying Leo. I stand to help, but Luke says. “Sit down and eat your breakfast, I got it.” Luke spends the next few minutes getting Leo set up. He gets his own food and sets his plate next to mine. He drops a kiss on my head and says. “I called by boss and let her know I was taking a sick day.”

Luke sits down next to me and I say. “Good, you deserve it.” I smile at him and his phone starts ringing. He gets up and walks to the dining room as he answers.

“That was Dr. James, he wants me to come in at 2 today, is that okay?” Luke says as he comes back in and sits down.

“That’s fine.” I say as I stand to clean Tony’s hands and face.”

“I thought I might go visit Phil before, pick up a pizza, talk about the case.”

“That sounds nice, he’ll enjoy that.” I say as I pick Tony up from his highchair. Tony squirms, trying to get down. “Diaper.” I say, he shakes his head ‘no.’ “Yes.” I say in a firmer voice. “Then we can play. What should we do today?” I ask, walking out of the kitchen. We talk about our options for the day while we go upstairs to the nursery.

Luke and Leo join us a little while later. We all play in the nursery for a while. Luke runs around in the backyard with Roxy and the boys while I get some laundry done and make lunch. Luke gets the boys cleaned up and in their highchairs. He goes off to gather his things and comes back with his backpack slung over one shoulder, giving us each a kiss.

“Give Phil my love and have a good session. I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“I will, I love you too. See you later.” Luke says giving me one more kiss before leaving.

We’re playing at the park in the afternoon when I get a text from Luke.

-Where are you guys?

I coax Tony down the slide before texting a quick message back, knowing I can’t take my eye off of him for too long.

-We’re at the park.

I put my phone away as Tony gets to the steps again. I see Luke and Roxy approaching a few minutes later. He comes up to me and gives me a side hug and a kiss.

“Papa” Tony yells, ready to leap off the climber. Luke runs up and take him off.

“You having fun?” Luke asks, hugging him and kissing his forehead, Tony nods. “Where’s Leo?” Luke asks Tony. He points a short distance away from them, where Emilio is filling his bucket with pebbles. “Should we go play in the rocks with him?” Luke asks Tony. They walk over and sit down next to Leo, he stands up and hugs Luke once he sees him. They all sit and play in the rocks for some time, while I take Roxy on a walk around the park. Luke convinces Leo to come play on the equipment with them. I sit on a bench and watch them all run around, going up the steps down the slides together for a while. Looking at how happy they all are puts a huge smile on my face. Luke walks over with a toddler in each arm, a while later he sits down next to me, out of breath. I hand the twins their sippy cups and ask.

“You all ready to go?” Luke nods. “Do you want some of my water?” I ask, reaching into the diaper bag.

“No, I’ll just wait till we get home.” Luke says, standing up. We start walking home. “I rushed home to try to catch you guys during snack.” Luke says.

“Yeah, Emilio woke up crying, I didn’t get to him before he woke up Tony, so, naptime was over a little earlier today.”

“That’s too bad. Do you know what was wrong with him?” Luke asks.

“I think he had gas, he was pretty unhappy for a while. I finally decided to give him some gas drops and he seemed like he was feeling better pretty soon after.” I shrug.

“So, maybe it’ll be an early night for these guys.” Luke says, I nod.

“How did your visit with Phil go?” I ask.

“Really good, he helped me work through my case like I knew he would. He was so happy to help. I passed it off to another agent who can follow up this weekend.”

“Oh, good. I guess you guys still got it.” I say with a smile.

“We do.” Luke smiles as we walk up the steps. I unlock the door and let Luke and the boys in. We take the boys upstairs and give them a bath, they were pretty filthy after the park.


End file.
